Rachel Maddow led the charge in exposing details of Trump's 2005 tax return. Trying to steal her thunder, the White House issued a press release admitting that the return is genuine (and naturally, including some blatant lies and distortions). Toot,toooot! (That's me tooting my own horn. I predicted they would be leaked.)

_________________________A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich

Frankly, the buildup to the release of the documents was much more fulfilling. I already expected that his returns would show some ridiculously stupid figure, and I already expected that a well paid army of attorneys could hold Trump's IRS liability in limbo for a seeming eternity...the more Trump pays them, the more time he can buy.

But the questions Rachel raised on The Rachel Maddow Show were the most satisfying, not only for me but also for my wife Karen.She normally is reluctant to do a deep dive into the messy, smelly details, and I don't blame her...the stench is often worse than two day old messy diapers.

But she was fascinated as Rachel built the house of cards, fact upon fact, presented clearly, logically, because Karen IS AT HEART an EXTREMELY LOGICAL person.So TRMS's presentation clearly appealed to her sense of logic. She liked the way it was presented.The thing that made Karen stop her online game and TURN AROUND and pay close attention to the TV was when Rachel started talking about Trump's 40 million dollar home in Florida, which he then turned around and SOLD for 100 million FOUR short years later, at a time when real estate prices were PLUMMETING...not just in Florida, but everywhere. That made Karen turn around...."Huh? How does The Donald suddenly pocket sixty large from some scumbag Russian Mafia figure for a shitty house that he never even lived in once he bought it?"Once Karen heard that, it piqued her interest and she stuck around to hear the whole enchilada.

But in the END it still boils down to, WILL OUR CONGRESS actually make a move on any of the evidence? So far I see ZERO indication that they will, and I see ZERO indication that the Dept of Justice will either.This is why I am convinced that the United States is no longer a free democracy, a NATION OF LAWS.We are no longer a nation of laws, we are a nation of men.Examples of "nations of men" include every corrupt dictatorial despot you can think of, not just Hitler, but Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Ferdinand Marcos, Ceaucescu, Francisco Franco, Fidel Castro, Benito Mussolini, the list goes on ad nauseum.This is the territory the USA occupies now, this is our legacy, this is the atmosphere Trump lives in and it's because that is the type of leadership most Americans now desire.They WANTED a corrupt strongman and they now have one.

And it's not the America I grew up in, and it's not any kind of definition of America I understand or recognize.And it's not the kind of America my father nearly gave his life for in WW2 either when he was in Europe, killing Nazis.

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"The Left ones think I'm Right, the Right ones think I'm wrong."

It's actually 2.5%, because he claimed $103 million in offsets ($83 million of which probably came from the 1995 paper loss, that can be carried over fir 18 years). It is also noted that 2005 was a particularly good year for Trump, leading to speculation that a Trump surrogate was the source.

Here's a really good question: why the White House confirm the numbers and authenticity? Moreover, how is this return different than 1996-2008 (which are not under audit)?

_________________________A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich

Maybe the leak of Trump's tax returns will prompt further persistent inquiry. Maybe that will check the cult of personality forming around Trump. Kim Jong Trump.

_________________________A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich

It's actually 2.5%, because he claimed $103 million in offsets ($83 million of which probably came from the 1995 paper loss, that can be carried over fir 18 years). It is also noted that 2005 was a particularly good year for Trump, leading to speculation that a Trump surrogate was the source.

I agree with the amended return of 2.5% instead of 1.5%. I also strongly agree that the whole return looks like a PR ploy by Trumpsters, that shows that he is, or at least was rich in 2005, and payed some taxes in that year.

There is still one technicality, in my specialty, that Lawd nows is not speeling,

Here's a really good question: why the White House confirm the numbers and authenticity? Moreover, how is this return different than 1996-2008 (which are not under audit)?

1. "Some people are saying" that it was the WH or Trump that leaked the return. Why? To take heat of the Russian thing and/or take heat of his stupid repeal of ACA.

2. "Some are saying" that return was leaked by Team Trump to show that Trump paid $39m in taxes that year - instead of his usual zero due to carryovers from large losses such as 1995.

3. "Some are saying" that the alternative minimum tax pushed his tax burden up $31m and that's why his tax plan would eliminate the "amt" - thus if enacted back in the day would have made this 2005 tax bill much smaller.

That return shows little of value. Without determining its veracity in general, its just the first 2 pages of the 1040 from one year where all the totals are inserted on a given line. It shows noting of how the gains and losses were determined. Those can only be determined if the entire return, with all of the many schedules and worksheets included, were also provided. If those had been included we would see hundreds of pages of Mr. Trumps 2005 federal tax return.

They would also show the many areas where his income derives from and the various liabilities he has. In detail. Until those schedules and worksheets are released there is no way to determine who Mr. Trump is in bed with--financially speaking.

Not to mention the many LLCís and corporations that feed into the Trump trough......

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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.